Mayor promises LAPD growth

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa insisted Tuesday that he would stick to his plan to add hundreds of officers to the Los Angeles Police Department “no matter what the cost,” at a time when the city faces deep cuts in other services and potential layoffs of municipal workers.

Villaraigosa said his administration was halfway to its goal of expanding the department by 1,000 officers. By November, the LAPD will surpass its largest size, 9,852 sworn personnel, if the current rate of increase continues. The department is on pace to reach 10,000 officers by June 2009.

At the same time, however, the city faces a budget deficit of at least $400 million in the coming fiscal year.

Those two facts -- the increasing size of the force and the rising deficit -- mean that the mayor, City Council and city employee unions face painful choices in the months ahead. But Villaraigosa said he would not change course.

“I will do everything in my power to protect the buildup of the Los Angeles Police Department,” the mayor said during a news conference at the Police Academy, where he was flanked by dozens of cadets. “It is a promise . . . I intend to keep, no matter what the cost.”

Villaraigosa, noting that crime rates have dropped to their lowest levels in more than half a century, insisted that prosperity in Los Angeles was tied directly to a safe city.

He acknowledged, however, that the police expansion was likely to mean “significant cuts to other very worthy programs” and that “layoffs will be on the table as one of the options” to balance the budget.

The LAPD’s training academies are full, with recruits working their way through the department’s rigorous six-month training program. A string of unusually large classes will begin graduating this spring, adding about 70 officers to the department monthly. After accounting for attrition, the LAPD is expected to grow by about 30 officers each month.

Most members of the City Council have so far gone along with Villaraigosa, refusing to slow the pace of hiring. The council is expected to review the issue this month, deciding whether the department should halt the academy class set to begin in April.

But pressure is building as city leaders look to slash $12 million by June 30 and $400 million to $500 million more in the fiscal year that begins July 1. Some fiscal conservatives fear that Villaraigosa’s police buildup will undercut other important programs the city delivers to the public.

“I’m anxious to see what major cuts the mayor is going to recommend to make that happen, because there’s no other way to do it,” said Councilman Greig Smith, a reserve police officer who sits on the council’s budget committee.

Los Angeles officials are in talks with several municipal unions over paring city expenses.

“Layoffs are being discussed, as are dozens of other options,” said Barbara Maynard, a spokeswoman for the Coalition of L.A. City Unions, which represents 22,000 employees.

“It is our hope that layoffs are not necessary, because layoffs mean one thing: a reduction in critical city services that residents rely on.”

Economist Jack Kyser said the city’s precarious finances would require unpopular decisions by Villaraigosa and the City Council.

“No matter what they do, there is going to be a great outcry,” said Kyser, of the Los Angeles Economic Development Corp. “It’s going to be tough times, and there will be a lot of unhappy constituencies out there.”

Police Chief William J. Bratton said the continued growth of the department was necessary to maintain a steady drop in crime the city had enjoyed over the last six years. Additional police, he said, would allow him to staff two new police stations scheduled to open next year and to flood crime-ridden neighborhoods -- such as the one in Glassell Park where gang members engaged officers in a shootout last month -- with more police.

“We still have too much crime in this city,” Bratton said. “What the mayor is saying is that it’s time for people to stand up and either say, ‘We’re for more police’ or ‘We’re not for more police.’ ”

Villaraigosa is not the first mayor to confront the budgetary challenges of expanding the police force.

His predecessor, James K. Hahn, repeatedly stressed public safety as a priority when he ran for mayor in 2001, promising 1,000 new police officers. Three and half years later, there were just 115 more sworn officers on the force.

At the time, Hahn blamed state lawmakers and City Council members for obstructing his expansion plan.

Before Hahn, Mayor Richard Riordan rode to office on a promise to add 3,000 officers to the 7,600-member department by the end of his first term. Despite dramatic increases in recruiting and training, the department still fell about 1,000 officers short of his goal. By the end of his second term, recruitment efforts had faltered, which was one reason Riordan proposed that the police force shrink by nearly 400 officers.

Los Angeles has long languished as perhaps the most under-policed large city in the country, with roughly half as many officers per capita as other urban areas, police and city officials said.

Villaraigosa promised 1,000 more officers and worked with the City Council during his first year to raise money for the buildup by increasing trash collection fees.

The new income goes to the city’s general fund with an expectation that it will be spent on police, but there is no requirement that it be allocated to the LAPD. Some council members now say City Hall should fulfill its commitment to spend the money on police.

“It is our responsibility as officials in this city to ensure that as [many recruits] as possible can don . . . the dark blue uniforms of the LAPD,” said Councilman Jack Weiss, who chairs the council’s Public Safety Committee. “I am going to do everything I can, and it really doesn’t matter to me what the consequences are as far as what else we face in this city.”

Council President Eric Garcetti said he was hopeful the council would avoid deep cuts in programs and services by identifying additional sources of revenue, including recoupment of delinquent taxes, enhanced advertisements on city buses and trash trucks, and higher fees from developers. At the same time, he said, money will be saved by making city programs and departments more efficient.

“We will get the police hired, and we will balance the budget,” Garcetti said. “A commitment to making this force strong is something that we have to weather in both financially difficult and financially easier times.”

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